Below are courses at Princeton University that focus on contemporary China issues.
Spring 2022-23
Janet Y. Chen
This course is an introduction to the history of modern China, from imperial dynasty to republic, from the Red Guards to red capitalists. Through primary sources in translation, it explores political and social revolutions, transformations in intellectual life and culture, as well as competing explanations for events such as the rise of the Communist Party of China and the Cultural Revolution. Major themes include: the impact of imperialism and war, tensions between governance and dissent, the emergence of nationalism, and the significance of China’s history for its present and future.
Fall 2022-23
Diplomatic Encounters—Or, So You Want to be a Diplomat
Robert L. Hutchings
This seminar offers an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of international diplomacy, drawing on the instructor’s experience as a former ambassador and current scholar. We will survey the classics and explore some of the more recent diplomatic memoirs, focusing on case studies such as the end of the Cold War, the Iraq fiasco, the US opening to Cuba, the Iran nuclear deal, and the challenges of dealing with Russia and China today. We will then descend from high politics down to ground level, focusing on practical aspects of diplomacy on which students can draw if and as they aspire to careers in international relations.
Janet Y. Chen
This seminar introduces students to major historiographical and methodological issues in twentieth-century Chinese history, with emphasis on the Republican period. Topics reflect theoretical debates and empirical questions, including: nationalism and citizenship, urban life, gender and sexuality, the Communist revolution, early PRC history.
Gene M. Grossman
This course examines the causes and consequences of international trade. We investigate why nations trade, what goods they export and import, and who gains and loses from trade. We then focus on economic and political motives for countries to regulate international trade and examine the economic effects of trade policies. Topics will include the connection between globalization and wage inequality, the effects of the “China Shock” on the US economy and politics, the implications of global value chains, the motivation for trade agreements, and the consequences of recent events such as the US-China Trade War, Brexit, and COVID-19.
Martin S. Flaherty
This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing’s relations with the Soviet Union, the US, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the developing world during the Cold War. It will explore the impact on China’s foreign relations of changes in the Chinese economy since the reform era began in 1978, the domestic legitimacy challenges in Beijing since the Tiananmen protests of 1989, the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond since the end of the Cold War, and recent developments since the accession of Xi Jinping.
Spring 2021-22
Martin Kern
Translation is at the core of our engagement with China, Japan, and Korea. From translations of the classics to contemporary literature, from the formation of modern East Asian cultural discourses to cross-cultural references in theater and film, the seminar poses fundamental questions to our encounters with East Asian cultural artifacts, reflecting on what “translation” of “original works” means in our globalized world. Open to students with or without knowledge of an East Asian language.
Zach Cooper
This course examines the strategies that great powers pursue to achieve foreign policy and national security objectives. It aims to help students understand the drivers and dimensions of competition between the United States and China and is structured around a series of questions related to aspects of Sino-American competition, namely the role of power shifts, perceptions, signaling, coercion, technology, ideology, alliances, economic statecraft, and leadership. Students review foundational literature in each area so that they can better understand the fundamental logic of the emerging strategic competition and its likely future path.
He Bian and Federico Marcon
This course is an introduction to the history of modern East Asia. We will examine the inter-related histories of China, Japan, and Korea since 1800 and their relationships with the wider world. Major topics include: trade and cultural exchanges, reform and revolutions, war, colonialism, imperialism, and Cold War geopolitics.
Joshua L. Freeman
For three decades, Mao Zedong presided over one of the most ambitious social experiments in human history. This course explores everyday life in China in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s: the radical reordering of economic, political, and social relations; the shattering experiences of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution; and the evolution of a party-state which governs China up to the present. While Maoist ideology and policies were homogenizing in intent and often in effect, this course will emphasize the ways in which the experiences of the Mao era were mediated through categories like gender, social status, and ethnicity.
Jean-Christophe de Swaan
This course explores the increasing weight of Asia in global financial markets and its implications. It frames the discussion in the context of the globalization of financial markets, with emphasis on concepts of economic development, institutional reform of markets, and public and private market investments. Discussions and investment case studies will combine analysis of historical trends and recent data with insights from practical experience in Asian markets. This course considers China’s gradual shift toward a capital market-based financial system, the potential revival of Japanese capital markets, and the development of Indian capital markets.
China’s Objects: Opulence and Innovation
Zoe Song-Yi Kwok
Have you ever paused to consider the material that forms your ceramic coffee mug or dinner plate? They are modern iterations of a method of ceramic production first developed in China around 19,000 years ago. Using objects in the Princeton University Art Museum’s collection, this seminar will investigate how and why artists from the dawn of civilization to the present day in China created objects made of ceramic, lacquer, bronze, jade, silk, wood, and other natural materials. Through discussions on technology, artistry, and function we will consider how objects made in China embody cultural beliefs and capture the eye with their beauty.
Political Economy of China, Past and Present
Xin Jin
How did China grow from a very poor country 40 years ago to a major player in the world economy since the economic reform in 1978? This course will answer this question by drawing literature from both Political Science and Economics. We will survey the classic topics as well as the most recent advancements in the study of political economy of China. Four main questions will be addressed: How did China implement economic reforms? What were the consequences of the reforms? How does China advance its economy and polity in the digital age? How was Chinese political-economic development shaped by and in turn influencing the global system?
Stephen Teiser
A thematic introduction to Chinese religion, ranging from ancient to contemporary. The first half focuses on classics of Chinese thought (Book of Changes, Analects of Confucius, Daoist classics, etc.). The second half utilizes journalism, ethnography, and history to consider topics such as contemporary China, state control of religion, cosmology, gods and saints, divination, gender, and ritual.
Fall 2021-22
Erin Huang
This course is an introduction to contemporary Chinese cinemas in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. From postwar musicals and pan-Asian blockbusters to New Wave avant-garde films and experimental documentaries, the diversity of Chinese cinemas reflects cinema’s relations to global capitalism, Asia’s democratization movements, financial crises, and the arrival of (post)socialism. Creating urban nomads, songstresses, daydreamers, travelers, and terrorists, Chinese cinemas put on full display the forces of globalization in shaping the aesthetics and politics of film. Selections broadly include popular commercial films to rare arthouse productions.
Stephen Kotkin
This seminar offers a history of global interactions roughly since the 1850s, combining an analytical framework with an overarching narrative. It singles out geopolitics, political economy, empire, networks and exchange, warfare and welfare, and oil. Key themes include the Anglo-German antagonism, the US–Japan clash, the rise and fall of global communism, the German story and the European Union, the fall and rise of China, and America’s global predominance and partnerships.
Ten Essential Topics in Chinese Art and Culture
Cheng-hua Wang
What was the role of women in Chinese art? How did Chinese people think about this life and the afterlife? Why and how is calligraphy considered an art form in China? These are but three of the questions this course asks and endeavors to explore. Focusing on ten important and provocative topics, this course aims to provide a comprehensive but spotlighted picture of Chinese art and culture. Together the ten point to the interrelated nature of the visual and Chinese philosophical thought, aesthetic values, religious beliefs, social life, political expression and commercial practices.
Erin Huang
This course is an introduction to contemporary Chinese cinemas in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. From postwar musicals and pan-Asian blockbusters to New Wave avant-garde films and experimental documentaries, the diversity of Chinese cinemas reflects cinema’s relations to global capitalism, Asia’s democratization movements, financial crises, and the arrival of (post)socialism. Creating urban nomads, songstresses, daydreamers, travelers, and terrorists, Chinese cinemas put on full display the forces of globalization in shaping the aesthetics and politics of film. Selections broadly include popular commercial films to rare arthouse productions.
Janet Chen
This seminar will examine how the territorial footprint of the People’s Republic of China was created, by exploring the history of its frontier regions. Through units on Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Manchuria, and the Southwest, we will interrogate concepts of ethnic identity, nationalism, culture, and religion, as well as contested historical claims over territory and sovereignty. Some basic knowledge of modern Chinese history is helpful but not required.
Medicine and Society in China: Past and Present
He Bian
This seminar provides a unique angle of studying Chinese history from antiquity to our present moment through the lens of medicine. Using China as method, it also aims at cultivating a pluralistic and historically informed understanding of medicine as evolving science, cultural system, socio-economic enterprises, and increasingly in the modern world a vital component of domestic and global governance. Through thematically and chronologically organized readings, students hone skills in historical analysis and engage in critical understanding of cultural differences as seen through medicine and health.
Martin S. Flaherty
This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will emphasize Beijing’s relations with the US as well as examine its dealings with the USSR, Asia, and the developing world. It will explore the changes and continu- 30 ities in the PRC’s foreign policy during three periods; 1) the era of Mao Zedong’s dominance, 2) the reform era begun under Deng Xiaoping and 3) the turn back toward authoritarianism since the advent of Xi Jinping.
Spring 2020-21
Jean-Christophe de Swaan
This course explores the increasing weight of Asia in global financial markets and its implications. It frames the discussion in the context of the globalization of financial markets, with emphasis on concepts of economic development, institutional reform of markets, and public and private market investments. Discussions and investment case studies will combine analysis of historical trends and recent data with insights from practical experience in Asian markets. This course considers China’s gradual shift toward a COURSES Our faculty teach courses that include history, finance, philosophy, politics, art, and sociology. The following list includes courses from the past four years with descriptions offered for this academic year. 29 capital market-based financial system, the potential revival of Japanese capital markets, and the development of Indian capital markets.
He Bian and Federico Marcon
This course is an introduction to the history of modern East Asia. We will examine the inter-related histories of China, Japan, and Korea since 1800 and their relationships with the wider world. Major topics include: trade and cultural exchanges, reform and revolutions, war, colonialism, imperialism, and Cold War geopolitics.
Stephen Teiser
A thematic introduction to Chinese religion, ranging from ancient to contemporary. The first half focuses on classics of Chinese thought (Book of Changes, Analects of Confucius, Daoist classics, etc.). The second half utilizes journalism, ethnography, and history to consider topics such as contemporary China, state control of religion, cosmology, gods and saints, divination, gender, and ritual.
Zach Cooper
This course examines the strategies that great powers pursue to achieve foreign policy and national security objectives. It aims to help students understand the drivers and dimensions of competition between the United States and China and is structured around a series of questions related to aspects of Sino-American competition, namely the role of power shifts, perceptions, signaling, coercion, technology, ideology, alliances, economic statecraft, and leadership. Students review foundational literature in each area so that they can better understand the fundamental logic of the emerging strategic competition and its likely future path.
Gene M. Grossman
This course examines the causes and consequences of international trade. We investigate why nations trade, what goods they export and import, and who gains and loses from trade. We then focus on economic and political motives for countries to regulate international trade and examine the economic effects of trade policies. Topics will include the connection between globalization and wage inequality, the effects of the “China Shock” on the US economy and politics, the implications of global value chains, the motivation for trade agreements, and the consequences of recent events such as the US-China Trade War, Brexit, and COVID-19.
Fall 2020-21
Cheng-hua Wang
With a highly developed system of aesthetics, Chinese art is not what meets the eye. In China, artworks have represented and also shaped sociocultural values, religious practices, and political authority throughout the ages. With an emphasis on the persuasive, and even subversive, power of art related to imperial and modern Chinese politics, this course reflects upon how art has worked in changing historical contexts and for serving political, religious, and social agents in Chinese history. It covers a wide range of artifacts and artworks.
China’s Others: Minority Peoples in the Chinese Past and Present
Joshua L. Freeman
This course will challenge common preconceptions of China by placing ethnic and religious minority groups at the center of the narrative, and demonstrating the key roles these groups have played in the Chinese past and present. Through guided readings, class discussions, and a series of written assignments, the course will acquaint students with the ethnic, religious, and cultural groups that have historically occupied half of modern China’s territory. A focus throughout the course will be on encountering these groups through their own voices, particularly through translations of minority-language memoirs and literature.
Chinese Financial and Monetary Systems
Wei Xiong
With its rapid economic growth in the past three decades, China already has the world’s second largest economy. Meanwhile its financial markets are also being quickly liberalized and integrated with the rest of the world. As the current trend continues, there are growing interests to learn and understand the workings of China’s financial and monetary systems. This course aims to serve this objective with a particular emphasis on understanding the role provided by the financial system in facilitating China’s economic development, in addition to the investment opportunities and risk presented by the system to the outside world.
Janet Y. Chen
This course is an introduction to the history of modern China, from imperial dynasty to republic, from the Red Guards to red capitalists. Through primary sources in translation, it explores political and social revolutions, transformations in intellectual life and culture, as well as competing explanations for events such as the rise of the Communist Party of China and the Cultural Revolution. Major themes include: the impact of imperialism and war, tensions between governance and dissent, the emergence of nationalism, and the significance of China’s history for its present and future.
Janet Y. Chen
This seminar introduces students to major historiographical and methodological issues in twentieth-century Chinese history, with emphasis on the Republican period. Topics reflect theoretical debates and empirical questions, including: nationalism and citizenship, urban life, gender and sexuality, the Communist revolution, early PRC history.
Martin S. Flaherty
This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing’s relations with the Soviet Union, the US, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the developing world during the Cold War. It will explore the impact on China’s foreign relations of changes in the Chinese economy since the reform era began in 1978, the domestic legitimacy challenges in Beijing since the Tiananmen protests of 1989, the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond since the end of the Cold War, and recent developments since the accession of Xi Jinping.
Policy Workshop: China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Mary Beth Goodman
This workshop looks at Chinese efforts in third countries to assess the impact of global development efforts. The course encompasses aspects of economics, international relations, diplomacy as well as development and human rights. A potential project is not yet finalized with the client but could include assessing the geostrategic nature of Chinese finance in the BRI; analyzing the Chinese institutional lay of the land for BRI investment as well as the institution’s equities, incentives, and relative influence; and also assessing the impact of BRI investment on recipient countries’ behavior in international institutions.
Fall 2019-20
Modern China (EAS 373 / HUM 373)
Joshua L. Freeman
Students will acquire a broad understanding of China’s history over the past three centuries, with an emphasis on the last 120 years. Following a brief overview of the broad sweep of Chinese history, we will learn about China’s last dynasty, the Qing; about the rapid political, social, cultural, and economic changes that began in the mid-nineteenth century; and about the complexities and contradictions of China’s twentieth century. We will consider how modern China has been shaped both by long-range trends and by key events and individuals. In doing so, we will also question some frequent assumptions about China, its past, and its present.
Topics in IR: China’s Foreign Relations (WWS 556A)
Yali Chen
This course reviews and analyzes the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It examines Beijing’s relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and discusses the future of Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond. WWS Graduate Students only.
Chinese Cinemas (EAS 236 / COM 228)
Erin Huang
This course is an introduction to contemporary Chinese cinemas in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. From postwar musicals and panAsian blockbusters, to new wave avant-garde films and experimental documentaries, the diversity of Chinese cinemas reflects cinema's relations to global capitalism, Asia's democratization movements, financial crises, and the arrival of (post)socialism. Creating urban nomads, songstresses, daydreamers, travelers, and terrorists, Chinese cinemas put on full display the forces of globalization in shaping the aesthetics and politics of film. Selections broadly include popular commercial films to rare art house productions.
Chinese Financial and Monetary Systems (FIN 594)
Wei Xiong
With its rapid economic growth in the past three decades, China already has the world's second largest economy. Meanwhile, its financial markets are also being quickly liberalized and integrated with the rest of the world. As the current trend continues, there are growing interests to learn and understand the workings of China's financial and monetary systems. This course aims to serve this objective with a particular emphasis on understanding the role provided by the financial system in facilitating China's economic development, in addition to the investment opportunities and risk presented by the system to the outside world.
Global History (1850s - Present) (HIS 501)
Stephen Kotkin
This seminar offers a history of global interactions roughly since the 1850s, combining an analytical framework with an overarching narrative. It singles out geopolitics, political economy, empire, networks and exchange, warfare and welfare, and oil. Key themes include the AngloGerman antagonism, the U.S.-Japan clash, the rise and fall of global communism, the German story and the European Union, the fall and rise of China, and America's global predominance and partnerships.
Modern China (EAS 373 / HUM 373)
Joshua L. Freeman
Students will acquire a broad understanding of China's history over the past three centuries, with an emphasis on the last 120 years. Following a brief overview of the broad sweep of Chinese history, we will learn about China's last dynasty, the Qing; about the rapid political, social, cultural, and economic changes that began in the mid-nineteenth century; and about the complexities and contradictions of China's twentieth century. We will consider how modern China has been shaped both by longrange trends and by key events and individuals. In doing so, we will also question some frequent assumptions about China, its past, and its present.
Topics in IR: China's Foreign Relations (SPIA 556A)
Yali Chen
This course reviews and analyzes the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It examines Beijing's relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and discusses the future of Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond. SPIA Graduate Students Only
Spring 2018-19
Religions of China (REL 226/EAS 226)
Stephen F. Teiser
A thematic introduction to Chinese religion, ranging from ancient to contemporary. The first half focuses on classics of Chinese thought (Book of Changes, Analects of Confucius, Laozi’s Dao de Jing, etc.); the second half utilizes ethnography and history to consider topics in modern Chinese society such as cosmology, ancestors, gods, and saints, mythology, ethics, divination, gender, and ritual.
Imagining Sounds of China: Encounters and Fantasies (EAS 237 / MUS 237 / COM 229)
Guangchen Chen, Paize Keulemans
Chinese culture and history contain an abundance of sounds with distinctive timbres. They have been experienced, imagined, and theorized locally and in cross-cultural dialogues. People from different times and cultures often experience them in mediated forms such as literary and graphic descriptions. This course offers an introduction to these sonic phenomena. Comparative and transmedia approaches are used to tackle their multicultural repercussions while giving equal attention to their socio-historic contexts. Students will gain an overview of the Chinese soundscape, aided by methods of sound studies and literary/cultural criticism.
Communism and Beyond: China and Russia (SOC 308 / RES 308 /EAS 308)
Deborah A. Kaple
This course focuses on the communist experiment in the Soviet Union and China. The first half of the course presents the political, social, and economic histories that characterize the USSR’s and China’s particular path to communism. The second half of the course focuses on the consequences of communism by examining each country’s demographics, environment, social structures, and so on, to the current day.
China, 1850 to the Present (HIS 325 / EAS 355)
Janet Y. Chen
This course is an introduction to the history of modern China, from imperial dynasty to Republic, from the Red Guards to red capitalists. Through primary sources in translation, we will explore political and social revolutions, transformations in intellectual life and culture, as well as competing explanations for events such as the rise of the Communist Party and the Cultural Revolution. Major themes include the impact of imperialism and war, tensions between governance and dissent, emergence of nationalism, and the significance of China’s history for its present and future.
Fall 2018-19
Medicine and Society in China: Past and Present (HIS 472 / EAS 472)
He Bian
This seminar offers focused reading and discussion over several key issues in the history of China as seen through the lens of medicine and healing. Using China as a complex case study, we also aim to cultivate a pluralistic understanding of medicine as evolving science, cultural systems, and socioeconomic enterprise. Research papers will explore the historical nature of tradition and modernity. Students from all disciplinary backgrounds are welcome to attend.
Chinese Politics (POL 362 / WWS 323 / EAS 362)
Rory Truex
This course provides an overview of China’s political system. We will begin with a brief historical overview of China’s political development from 1949 to the present. The remainder of the course will examine the key challenges facing the current generation of CCP leadership, focusing on prospects for democratization and political reform.
Topics in Policy Analysis (Half-Term) - The China Model (WWS 593D)
Rory Truex
China has lifted 600 million people out of poverty in the past 30 years. This achievement has led observers within and outside China to trumpet the virtues of the so-called ‘China Model’ as an alternative path of development. The course provides an overview of China’s political and economic development in the post-Mao era. Core topics include state intervention in the economy, corruption and political accountability, and authoritarian political institutions.
Fall 2017-18
China's Frontiers (HIS 439 / EAS 439)
Janet Y. Chen
Fall 2017-18
This seminar will examine how the territorial footprint of the People's Republic of China was created, by exploring the history of its frontier regions. Through units on Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Manchuria, and the Southwest, we will interrogate concepts of ethnic identity, nationalism, culture, and religion, as well as contested historical claims over territory and sovereignty. Some basic knowledge of modern Chinese history is helpful but not required.
Chinese Financial and Monetary Systems (ECO 494 / FIN 494)
Guifeng Sun and Wei Xiong
Fall 2017-18
With its rapid economic growth in the past three decades, China already has the world's second largest economy. Meanwhile its financial markets are also being quickly liberalized and integrated with the rest of the world. As the current trend continues, there are growing interests to learn and understand the workings of China's financial and monetary systems. This course aims to serve this objective with a particular emphasis on understanding the role provided by the financial system in facilitating China's economic development, in addition to the investment opportunities and risk presented by the system to the outside world.
Chinese Intellectual History (EAS 507)
Willard J. Peterson
Fall 2017-18
This course focuses on methods, sources, and problems of research in history of Chinese thought.
Fall 2016-17
China's Frontiers (HIS 439 / EAS 439)
Janet Y. Chen
Fall 2016-17
This seminar will investigate the historical roots of contemporary conflicts over territory and sovereignty in China's frontier areas. Focusing on Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, we will explore how history has been, and continues to be, used to explain or justify geopolitical goals and realities. The north and northeast (Inner Mongolia, Manchuria) and the southwest borderlands will provide points of comparison, to understand how issues such as religion, gender, ethnicity, and nationalism matter in different historical contexts.
Chinese Financial and Monetary Systems (ECO 494 / FIN 594)
Yaxin Duan and Wei Xiong
Fall 2016-17
With its rapid economic growth in the past three decades, China already has the world's second largest economy. Meanwhile its financial markets are also being quickly liberalized and integrated with the rest of the world. As the current trend continues, there are growing interests to learn and understand the workings of China's financial and monetary systems. This course aims to serve this objective with a particular emphasis on understanding the role provided by the financial system in facilitating China's economic development, in addition to the investment opportunities and risk presented by the system to the outside world.
Contemporary East Asia (EAS 229)
David Leheny
Fall 2016-17
This course is an introduction to the societies, cultures, and politics of contemporary East Asia. The rise of East Asia has inspired Western observers to reflect on the ways in which capitalism, democracy, and modern social relationships can unfold in different ways. It has also prompted debates about the development of political systems, about the most efficient and just ways to organize economic growth, and even about what constitutes Asia. Although the course will focus especially on China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, we will draw special attention to issues that cut across national boundaries.
Elementary Chinese I (CHI 101)
Jianfei Chen, Ning Liu, Xiang Lv, Ding Wang-Bramlett, Xin Zou
Fall 2016-17
An intensive introductory course in modern spoken and written Chinese, stressing oral-aural facility and the analysis of structure.
Fourth-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 403)
Jianfei Chen and Xiang Lv
Fall 2016-17
Reading and discussion of selections from Chinese and newspapers on contemporary Chinese political, economic, and social issues.
Intensive Elementary Chinese (CHI 103)
Luanfeng Huang, Tao Peng, Tingting Wang
Fall 2016-17
Designed for students who already have some familiarity with spoken Mandarin. The course will emphasize reading and writing skills. Students who speak Mandarin with non-standard accents will be trained in standard pronunciation.
Intensive Fourth-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 405)
Qifan Ding and Shutan Dong
Fall 2016-17
Reading and discussion based on Chinese scholarly journals, popular essays, and newspaper articles. Students are exposed to a variety of modern Chinese literary genres, as well as some of the major substantive issues that modern Chinese intellectuals have faced.
Intensive Third-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 305)
Tingting Wang and Ding Wang-Bramlett
Fall 2016-17
Designed to further develop student's overall language skills through readings and discussion of contemporary affairs published in Chinese newspapers.
Intermediate Chinese I (CHI 105)
Qifan Ding, Shutan Dong, Wei Gong
Fall 2016-17
While reinforcing the knowledge students have acquired thus far, this course will further develop the students' audio-lingual proficiency as well as bring their reading and writing ability to a higher level.
Introduction to Classical Chinese I (CHI 301)
Chih-p'ing Chou, Xin Zou
Fall 2016-17
CHI 301 not only provides basic training for students in classical Chinese, but also introduces students to theme-based readings about important cultural aspects of pre-modern China, such as the concept of Dao, life and death, etc. Each theme is consisted of passages selected from Chinese classics and short essays or stories full of wisdom and wit from later dynasties. This course will not only improve your four skills in Chinese language but also enhance your understanding of traditional Chinese philosophy and culture in general.
Third Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 303)
Wei Gong, Luanfeng Huang, Jing Xie
Fall 2016-17
Designed to further develop the student's overall language skills through reading and discussion of contemporary affairs published in Chinese newspapers.
Spring 2016-17
Asian Capital Markets (ECO 492)
Jean-Christophe de Swaan
Spring 2016-17
Course explores the increasing weight of Asia in global financial markets and its implications. It frames the discussion in the context of the globalization of financial markets, with emphasis on concepts of economic development, institutional reform of markets, and public and private market investments. Discussions and investment case studies will combine analysis of historical trends and recent data with insights from practical experience in Asian markets. Course considers China's gradual shift toward a capital market-based financial system, the potential revival of Japanese capital markets, and the development of Indian capital markets.
China, 1850 to the Present (HIS 325 / EAS 355)
Janet Y. Chen
Spring 2016-17
This course is an introduction to the history of modern China, from imperial dynasty to Republic, from the Red Guards to red capitalists. Through primary sources in translation, we will explore political and social revolutions, transformations in intellectual life and culture, as well as competing explanations for events such as the rise of the Communist Party and the Cultural Revolution. Major themes include: the impact of imperialism and war, tensions between governance and dissent, the emergence of nationalism, and the significance of China's history for its present and future.
China's Foreign Relations (WWS 316 / POL 399 / WWS 556A)
Thomas J. Christensen
Spring 2016-17
This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijing's relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the developing world during the Cold War. It will explore the impact on China's foreign relations of changes in the Chinese economy since the reform era began in 1978, the domestic legitimacy challenges in Beijing since the Tiananmen protests of 1989, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond since the end of the Cold War.
Chinese Martial Arts Classics: Fiction, Film, Fact (EAS 231)
Pieter C. Keulemans
Spring 2016-17
This course provides an overview of Chinese martial arts fiction and film from earliest times to the present day. The focus will be on the close-reading of literary, art-historical, and cinematic texts, but will also include discussion of the significance of these works against their broader historical and social background. Topics to be discussed: the literary/cinematic pleasure of watching violence, the relationship between violence and the law, gender ambiguity and the woman warrior, the imperial and (trans)national order of martial arts cinema, and the moral and physical economy of vengeance.
Contemporary China (SOC 307)
Yu Xie
Spring 2016-17
This course provides an overview of contemporary Chinese society. Chinese society is best understood through a number of different intrinsically-linked and mutually-interdependent aspects. For this reason, we will explore its history, cultural practices, government, economy, and family structure.
Elementary Chinese II (CHI 102)
Jianfei Chen, Ning Liu, Xiang Lv, Ding Wang-Bramlett, Xin Zou
Spring 2016-17
Continuation of Chinese 101. To develop basic competence in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Mandarin Chinese.
Fourth-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 403)
Ding Wang-Bramlett, Yongtao Zhang
Spring 2016-17
Reading and discussion of selections from Chinese scholarly journals and newspapers on contemporary Chinese political, economic, and social issues.
Fourth-Year Modern Chinese II (CHI 404)
Jianfei Chen, Xiang Lv
Spring 2016-17
A continuation of 403. Reading and discussion of scholarly writings in the fields of Chinese literature and modern Chinese intellectual history.
Intensive Elementary Chinese (CHI 103)
Tao Peng, Ding Wang-Bramlett, Jinhui Zhen
Spring 2016-17
Designed for students who already have some familiarity with spoken Mandarin. The course will emphasize reading and writing skills, and how to analyze grammar. Students who speak Mandarin with non-standard accents will be trained in standard pronunciation.
Intensive Fourth-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 405)
Jianfei Chen, Yunjun Zhou <
Spring 2016-17
Reading and discussion based on Chinese scholarly journals, popular essays, and newspaper articles. Students are exposed to a variety of modern Chinese literary genres, as well as some of the major substantive issues that modern Chinese intellectuals have faced.
Intensive Fourth-Year Modern Chinese II (CHI 406)
Qifan Ding, Shutan Dong
Spring 2016-17
Continued reading and discussion of scholarly writings on modern Chinese literature. This course also exposes students to the social issues China has faced in recent years, while discussing various aspects of contemporary Chinese society.
Intensive Intermediate Chinese (CHI 108)
Luanfeng Huang, Tao Peng, Tingting Wang
Spring 2016-17
An intensive course covering 105 and 107 in one semester for students who have finished 103 which covers 101 and 102. The course will emphasize reading and writing skills and the analysis of grammar. After 108, students are ready for third year courses.
Intensive Third-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 305)
Shutan Dong and Jinhui Zhen
Spring 2016-17
Designed for students who are interested in current political and social issues in Chinese affairs. Reading materials will be selected from newspapers of the People's Republic of China.
Intensive Third-Year Modern Chinese II (CHI 306)
Tingting Wang, Ding Wang-Bramlett
Spring 2016-17
A continuation of 305, designed to further improve the student's facility in written and oral expression through a close study of essays published in contemporary Chinese newspapers and magazines.
Intermediate Chinese I (CHI 105)
Jianfei Chen, Lei Guo, Yongtao Zhang, Yunjun Zhou
Spring 2016-17
While reinforcing the knowledge students have acquired thus far, this course will further develop the students' audio-lingual proficiency as well as bring their reading and writing ability to a higher level.
Intermediate Chinese II (CHI 107)
Qifan Ding, Shutan Dong, Wei Gong
Spring 2016-17
Continuing the intensive study of modern spoken and written Chinese, this course shifts the emphasis to the reading of modern cultural and social issues.
Introduction to Classical Chinese II (CHI 302)
Chih-p'ing Chou, Xin Zou
Spring 2016-17
The purpose of this course is, first and foremost, to introduce and master the fundamental grammar of classical Chinese and to read short, original texts, from different periods and genres. It also provides theme-based readings about important cultural aspects of pre-modern China, such as conceptions of life and death, filial piety, warfare, conflicts between marriage and romance, and the development of ideas of utopia. Questions such as these were at the heart of Chinese intellectual debates.
Modern Chinese Literature and Film (EAS 334)
Pieter C. Keulemans
Spring 2016-17
An introduction to the major literary and cinematic texts of modern China. Emphasis will be on the close reading/viewing of these works, but discussion will also include the socio-historical context in which these works were produced and consumed. Issues to be discussed include the relationship between city and countryside, issues of femininity and masculinity, revolution as political and aesthetic act, and the global circulation of Chinese literature and film.
The Chinese Economy (ECO 379 / EAS 346)
Gregory C. Chow
Spring 2016-17
Institutional, theoretical and quantitative study of the Chinese economy. Topics include historical background, period of planning and political movements, economic reform, economic growth and fluctuations, macro economic policy, consumption, regional disparity, population, human capital, banking and financial system, state enterprise restructuring, foreign trade and investment, the legal system, science and education, environmental problems and policy, and the functioning and characteristics of the Chinese economy in general.
Third-Year Modern Chinese I (CHI 303)
Joanne Y. Chiang, Lei Guo, Jincheng Liu
Spring 2016-17
Designed to further develop the student's overall language skills through reading and discussion of contemporary affairs published in Chinese newspapers.
Third-Year Modern Chinese II (CHI 304)
Wei Gong, Luanfeng Huang, Jing Xie
Spring 2016-17
A continuation of CHI 303, designed to improve the student's facility in written and oral expression through a close study of newspaper essays and commentaries.